


Becoming Paradise

by Tallulah



Category: Battle Royale (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 19:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17209889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallulah/pseuds/Tallulah
Summary: Image is everything, especially when it comes to your daemon.





	Becoming Paradise

Not that Shou would ever have admitted it, but of _course_ he was concerned about how his daemon would ultimately fix. Image is, after all, everything: it’s just that those who choose to flirt with drag (or flirt _in_ drag) are more honest about it. And you can fix your face and fix your clothes and hide behind make-up and hand gestures and winks but once _she_ fixes, you can’t do much about your daemon. Queens on the scene prefer it to go one of two ways: something flamboyant and beautiful, like a peacock or a butterfly, or something irresistibly masculine, like a bear, or a wolf, or a bulldog. Shou’s always been partial to men with gorillas, personally. Who can resist those shoulders? What you don’t want is something drab. Something mundane. A mouse, a rabbit, a goose… Shou says to Tekudae, as they walk past Chisato Matsui petting her rabbit, Yuka Nakagawa making faces at her otter, _You go that way, darling, I’m putting you out on the street. I don’t need a soul that much._ She’s perched on his shoulder as a parrot and she nips his ear, like she knows it’s not completely a joke.

In the event, she fixes as a bird, and, thank god, not just any bird. A black bird with a rainbow-patterned chest and six plumes on her head. 

_Six-plumed bird of paradise,_ Kazuo says. _Genus parotia. During courtship, they dance._

_For fuck’s sake_ , Mitsuru says. _It even fucking looks like you with that rainbow bullshit._

Shou can’t thank her enough, not that he needs to. She spreads out the black skirt of feathers around her neck. Her eyes are blue and yellow. When she caws, the inside of her mouth is green.

_Bird of paradise?_ Ryuhei says. _Ain’t they supposed to be, like… fancier?_

_Like all different colours,_ Hiroshi says. _Not just black._

_We don’t need lots of different colours,_ Shou says, blowing a kiss at them to screw with their heads. 

_Should’ve known it’d be something weird,_ Mitsuru says, and moves his daemon – currently a rat – away from Shou, in case the fabulous is catching.

Shou would never admit how relieved he is. His true self has emerged. Hatched, as it were, even if no eggs were involved. Now he can really go to town.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 12daysChristmas on LiveJournal, prompt "four unusual hatchings".


End file.
